The Philippines 6 dec 2001 - 6 jan 2002

Report compiled by Roger Ahlman Introduction

Few countries have got more endemic than the Philippines and few countries have got more threatened birds than the Philippines. Add to this that some of the birds are very spectacular and all of a sudden the Philippines becomes a must for the global birdwatcher. Doing the Philippines properly requires much more time then the month we had available and we had to focus on how to get the most out of our time. Some places like the Sulus and western Mindanao excluded itself because of the civil war-like situations there. Having gone through some tripreports and some discussions, we decided to try and contact Tim Fisher, who lives in Manilla since 23 years and ask him for assistance with locistics within the Philippines and also for comments on out itenary. Tim presented a review of our itenary and also offered to take care of all transports, hotel bookings, domestic flights, guides and food for part of the trip and also to spend some time birding with us. The price for all this was reasonable for us and we bought the whole package presented by Tim - and we never regreted this! The timing of our trip (6.12-5.1) was not the best birdwise as the breeding season hasn«t started yet and it would be at the end or later part of the rainy season, but it coincides well with the major holidays and we could get an extra week off from work without having to use all of our available vacation. Birding was at times slow or very slow, partly because of the time of the year but also because birddensities are very low in some places due to hunting and logging. Other reports we had also found birding slow later on in the spring. Best birding was at PICOP, Mt Kitanglad and Palawan, with reasonable good birding at Mt Makiling and Mt Polis. Quezon and Subic was very quiet and Quezon was very unpleasant because much of the birding there is done from a main road with a lot of traffic. This place could easily be excluded from a trip to the Philippines as it is the only place on Luzon south of Manilla if you don«t count Pagbilao marsh which is nearby and worth visiting only because it is en route to Quezon NP. Wheatherwise we consider ourselves to be very lucky with very little rain for the first three weeks. The rain we had interferred very little with our birding except the last week on Mindanao were half a day at PICOP and one full day at Kitanglad was completely ruined by rain, but this was all that was ruined by rain for one full month. Wind was a problem one day at Subic and probably cost us some endemics there.

Participants

Roger Ahlman, Ynglingatan 4, 331 40 Värnamo, Sweden. [email protected] Lars Petersson, Ringvägen 13, 331 4 Värnamo, Sweden. [email protected] Stefan Andersson, Sandhäll, 330 12 Forsheda, Sweden. [email protected] Jonas Starck, Storgatan 31, 340 14 Lagan, Sweden. [email protected] Anders Jihmanner, Björkgatan 6 , 462 50 Vänersborg, Sweden. [email protected] Tore Holsendahl, Högstorp 1604, 447 91 Vårgårda, Sweden

Best of the trip! Luzon Jungle-flycatcher at Mt Polis. This and all other photos taken by Anders Jihmanner. Itinery

6.12 Leaving Gothenbourg for Frankfurt and Hong Kong. 7.12 Arraving Manilla and drive to Mt Makiling with afternoon birding 8.12 All day Mt Makiling 9.12 Morgning at Makiling. Afternoon drive to Pagbilao 10.12 Morgning at Quezon NP. Afternoon drive to Manilla busstation 11.12 Nightbus to Bannaue and rest of the day birding on Mt Polis 12.12 All day Mt Polis 13.12 Birding Mt Polis until 14.00 then bus to Plagidel 14.12 Morgning at Candaba marsh then transport to Subic and afternoon birding there. 15.12 Morgning birding at Subic then transport to Manilla. 16.12 Flight to Palawan with afternoon birding en route to Sabang. 17.12 All day birding at St Paul«s 18.12 All day birding at St Paul«s 19.12 Morgning birding at St Paul«s then transport to Puerto Princessa. 20.12 Morgning at Balsahan trail. Afternoon flight to Cebu. 21.12 Morgning ferry to Dumaguette, Negros and afternoon birding at Casa Roro. 22.12 Trekking up Mt Tallinis 23.12 Trekking at Mt Mantecal on the south side. 24.12 Morgning ferry to Bohol and transport to Rajah Sikatuna and afternoon birding there. 25.12 All day birding at Rajah Sikatuna. 26.12 Morgning birding at RS then transport to Tagbilran and ferry to Cebu. 27.12 All day birding at Tabunan 28.12 Morgning flight to Davao, Mindanao then transport to Bislig and birding at the airport. 29.12 All day birding at PICOP 30.12 All day birding at PICOP 31.12 Rain all morgning then transport to Davao 1.1 Transport to Dalwangen then walk up to the lodge at Mt Kitanglad. 2.1 All day birding Mt Kitanglad 3.1 All day birding Mt Kitanglad 4.1 All day rain and no birding. 5.1 Walk down to the main road then transport to Cagayan de Oro then flight to Manilla and more flights back to Sweden arriving at home at about 20.00 on the 6th. Diary

6.12 We arrived Landvetter airport only to find out that there was a strike going on in Paris from where we should fly to Hong Kong. The SAS office rebooked us to a flight to Frankfurt and from there with Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and we could go as planned. As usual a boring day and night on airports and planes.

7.12 We arrived in Hong Kong and soon were on the plane to Manilla. We were picked up and driven to Trees Lodge at the foot of Mt Makiling near Manilla were we did afternoon birding at the Botanical Garden nearby.

8.12 We met Tim Fisher at 5.00 and birded with him a three english friends of his on Mt Makiling. In the afternoon we walked a few kms down the road to a spot where we saw Spotted buttonquail and some other birds. A heavy rainshower delayed us for half an hour but the rain eased and we could pick up birding again.

9.12 Birding lower parts of Mt Makiling from 5.00 until lunch when Tim and a minibus picked us up and drove down the road to a bridge from where we saw Indigo-banded kingfisher. Then transport for about two hours to Pagbilao and a couple of hours birding at the marshes therebefore checking in at Oven Farm Hotel near Pagbilao.

10.12 Set off at 4.00 for Quezon NP arriving there before dawn and did some nightbirding along the road before entering the Summit trail. Rest of the morgning along the road and the trail with very poor birding. Back to the hotel and lunch and a quick shower before the long drive back to Manilla busstation and wait for the nightbus that would take us to Bannaue. At 22.00 the bus departed and took 10 hours. We slept much of the time.

11.12 The bus arrived on time, 7.00, and we were soon transferred to View Hill Hotel and had breakfast before going up Mt Polis. Mist and light rain for much of the day but it didn«t interfer to much with our birding. In the afternoon we drove down to the village Bay-Yu and after an extensive search we found the Luzon Water-redstart. Dinner at Las Vegas near the hotel.

12.12 Departure at 4.00 to Mt Polis where we arrived at 5.00 and did some owling along the road on the other side of the pass. Rest of the morgning along the road and later in the day we birded along the road above Bay-Yu. In the afternoon we birded along the road on the Bannaue side of the pass before going back to the hotel.

13.12 Departure at 4.30 and listening for owls on the Bannaue side of the pass and also birding here in the morgning. The group then spilt up with Anders and I walking the trail in the mossforest behind the pass. The others walked along the road. Just before going in to the forest there is a hut with someone living there and we asked him if he knew Whiskered pitta and he said he had seen one yesterday, but it died! When we asked him what he did with it he turned around and picked up some red feathers near the fireplace and showed us and said he had it for dinner! We went in to the forest and after about 500 metres we saw amovement on the path and looked in our bins and saw a Luzon Jungle- flycatcher caught in one of the snares!. The bird was alive and well and we released it and took several photos before we let it go. Tim haven«t seen this rare species during his 23 years in the Philippines. We pushed on and at a fork we went uphill for a few hundred metres and found more snares on the path and soon came to a small clearing and a hut where two woodcarvers lived. We asked them about some birds only to find out that had had White«s thrush for dinner yesterday! Above the hut was a nice viewpoint but we didn«t see anything so we went down to the fork and walked the other path for about 1 kilometre before we had to return. This part had no snares and the forest was absolutely great and surely has potentials for the pitta, thrushes and jungle-flycatcher. When we came back to the pass the others were already there having seen nothing new so they walked the trail to the place were we released the flycatcher but it was not seen again. We went back to Bannaue and had lunch and a shower before taking the 17.00-bus to Plagidel. Some sleep on the bus before arriving at 01.00 and Tim was waiting for us at a motel there.

14.12 Early departure for nearby Candaba marshes and all morgning birding there with a good selction of wetland birds including a flock of 10 Grass owls being the highlight. 3 possible Baer«s pochards in a big pond could not not be positively identified. A couple of hours drive to Subic and the nice Crown Peak Hotel. Afternoon birding along the maze of road at this formerly US Navy-base.

15.12 All morgning along the Birdwatching trail. Very quiet in the forest with few birds seen not helped by the rather windy conditions today. A couple of hours along the roads before going back to the constant trafficjam around Manilla. Night at basic Townsend Hotel not far from the airport.

16.12 Morgning flight to Palawan where we were met by Arnell who would be our guide on Palawan. We went straight to Galciano beach and soon found 4 Chinese egrets. We then drove to Sabang near St Paul«s NP a couple of hours north of Puerto Princessa. Some birding along the road and around the Last Frontier were we stayed.

17.12 Early morgning walk about 2 kms to Central Park Station inside the National Park. At about 7.00 a Cockatoo flew over and soon we entered the forest and walked on the Streamtrail and back along the Mangrove trail. The Streamtrail was in a rather bad condition maiking birding a bit difficult. After lunch and siesta we went back to the Streamtrail and CPS for afternoon birding.

18.12 We left at 5.30 and walked the short way to Sabang and got on a boat that took us to the Underground river and we spend the next few hours around the headquarter. After some effort we managed to see a male Palawan Peacock and also some Tabon scrubfowls. At 10.00 we started to walk the very sweatty Monkeytrail that goes up the hill and then down on the other side to the CPS. The girls at the Last Frontier had brought warm lunch for us which we enjoyed and had some siesta before afternoon birding around the CPS and the 2 kilomtres walk back to our bungalows.

19.12 Anders, Tore and Stefan went back to St Paul«s while Lars, Jonas and I walked along the road back for about 5 kms and had produktive birding most of the time with among other birds had 2 Cockatoos flying over and also found a pair of Spotted wood-owl which was surprising. Afternoon transport back to Puerto Princessa and some birding at saltpans near PP.

20.12 Set off at 4.30 for Balzahan trail not far from Puerto Princessa where we arrived before dawn to try for Palawan scops owl but we failed to hear any. We crossed the river twice and spend most of the morgning along a stretch of about 300 m and birding was rather good. A shorter stop at some smaller wetlands on the way back. Afternoon flight to Cebu and checked in at Tonros Apartelle.

21.12 Morgningferry to Dumaguette, Negros and checked in at Bethel Guesthouse, had lunch a some rest before going up to Casa Roro with our guide René. A long uphill walk and poor birding although a few new species seen.

22.12 Departure at 5.00 with jeepney to the foot of Mt Talinnis and a long, sweatty walk uphill until we reached good forest. The trail through the forest was very bad and overgrown and René walked first and cut it up. Best bird was Negros striped babbler but otherwise very poor birding. Back at Dumaguette at 16.00 and later dinner at nearby and good Why Not.

23.12 Departure at 4.00 with jeepney for one hour then one hour with ”Habal Habal” which is motorbike. In local language that means ”screw a pig” as the posture one have when sitting behind on a motorbike suggests that of mating pigs! There were two of us plus a driver on each motorbike. We met some motorbikes more crowded than ours; Four people plus five pigs on one and another had seven people! We were told that we should get to an undisturbed forest at the foot of Mt Mantecal where all of the endemic Negros birds could be seen. Disappointingly we had to walk a few kilometres before we reached the forest and we didn«t arrive there until 10.30. The trail through the forest was also very bad and had to be cut up. We didn«t see much although one of the locals who cut up the trail flushed a Bleedingheart. René was a former birdhunter and was very good at birds. Surprisingly he was familiar with Negros fruit-dove and even knew the call. He also said that Walden«s hornbill could be seen here, but we failed to see the good ones. Camping here would have been a better option to be at the forest in early morgning and not for a few midday hours. Long and boring walk/motorbike/ jeepney drive back to Dumaguette.

24.12 Departure with ferry at 6.45 for Tagbilaran, Bohol and then jeepney for two hours to Chockolate Hills Guesthouse. Lunch and some rest before going down to Rajah Sikatuna NP in the afternoon. Very quiet in the forest and not many nightbirds at the scoutcamp nearby, which is said to be good for nightbirds.

25.12 Set off at 5.00 for half an hour drive to RS and morgning was spent on Brahminy and Tarictic trail until 11.00. Lunch and rest before doing the Tarictic and Steere«s pitta trails in the afternoon and again the scoutcamp. Morgning birding was rather good but afternoons very quiet.

26.12 Set off at 4.30 and spend some time along the road listening for owls. All morgning along the Tarictic trail and later up the Steere«s pitta trail down to the scoutcamp (Magsaysay). Best bird of the day was Visayan broadbill seen at the top of the Steere«s pitta trail. Unfortunately we failed to find Azure-breasted pitta and there was no respons to the tape playback. Two hours back to Tagbilaran and later ferry to Cebu.

27.12 Departure at 4.00 with jeepnet up to Tabunan where we arrived at 5.30 and met our guide Oking. The drive goes steadily uphill and it got rather chilly while driving. Oking took us in darkness through muddy fields and then up through the forestpatch to a platform with rather limited view on top of a rock. Rather lively in the morgning with Raquettails, Streak-breasted bulbul and heard Black shamas. We scanned for the Cebu flowerpecker but failed to see any although Oking said he heard one, the call is very similar to that of Red-keeled. We left the platform at 10.00 and climbed through the limestone rocks to another rock which was more uncomfortable and continued the scanning until 16.00 when we gave up and playbacked a Black shama before going back to Cebu City rather disappointed. Some in the group came to the conclusion, when we left, that they had heard the flowerpecker in the morgning and ticked it.

28.12 Flight at 8.00 to Davao, Mindanao and then four hours drive to Bislig and the Paper Country Inn. Lunch and siesta before going with our guide Zardo to Bislig airport for afternoon wetlandbirding.

29.12 Departure at 4.30 to the junction between road 1 and 1/4. Rufous-lored kingfisher called at first light. Good birding along road 1/4 all day with a lunch and siesta break in the forest.

30.12 Departure at 4.30 along road 1 to the junction with road 4E. All morgning along road 4E and 4. Afternoon along road 1/4 and 1 with Silvery kingfisher being the highlight with good scopeviews. In late afternon while going back we found a pair of Spotted imperial pigeons pearched in a dead tree with two Green Imps.

31.12 Heavy rain but we departed at 4.30 anyway to road 6 but no proper birding could be done due to the rain. All afternoon was transport back to Davao and very luxorious Apo View Hotel where we had a good New Year buffé with red wine.

1.1 Set off at 6.30 for Dalwangen where we arrived at 12.30 after lunch at Pine Hill hotel at Malaybalay. After some hazzle we eventually found Carlito and the people who would take us and the luggage up Mt Kitanglad. We went with a jeep-type of vehicle a few kilometres up the dirtroad and started to load three horses with our luggage and started to walk just as the rain started. One hour and fifteen minutes later we arrived soaking wet to the lodge. There was a lot of activity there with people preparing the lodge and meals for us. At 17.45 the Budkinon woodcocks came roding for the first time.

2.1 Breakfast at 5.00 with poridge and then an hour birding around the lodge with a good flock passingen by comprising a good selection of the Kitanglad birds. We then walked with our guide Dani straight to the upper eagle viewpoint which took an hour and a half to reach. Disappointingly the path goes through farmland and secondary habitat all the time and rather few birds seen. We spent six hours scanning the hills around the viewpoint for the eagle but failed to see any apart from Philippine hawk- eagles. Some white-cheeked bullfinches were seen but otherwise very poor. We also managed to sunburn ourselves which we sufferd from for the next few days.

3.1 Breakfast as yesterday and we sat off at 5.45 for two hours stiff walking until we were well beyond the upper eagle viewpoint. We pushed on uphill to try and reach proper mossforest to try for the higher altitude species, but all we found was patches of forest and the narrow trail often passed through very high grass and scrub, so we finally gave in and walk down a bit and birded the forest patches and sat down at a spot where we had a good view of the valley and hills. After a short while we got distant views of the Philippine eagle as it soared along the hill and took hight and disappeared behind the hills. Other good birds was Apo myna, Blackmasked whiteeye and heard Bagobo babbler. In the afternoon it started to rain and we had to walk back in the rain and again got soaking wet, but we had cold beers and rum at lodge and had seen the eagle so we were allright.

4.1 Heavy rain started at 02.00 and continued all morgning. Showers came and went through the day and in the afternoon some of us made an attempt to go up the mountain to try for Blue-capped kingsfisher but the rain picked up again and we didn«t see much but got wet again.

5.1 Breakfast and and loading the horses. We started to descend the mountain at 6.30 and had to go all the way down to the main road (c10 kms). The dirtroad was not drivable and we came down to the main road at 9.00 were a minibus was waiting for us to take us to the airport at Cagayan de Oro. The trail down the mountain was extremely muddy and slippery and we were preety dirty. At the airport in Manilla we went to a paying lounge and had a shower and free drinks for 6 USD. Well worth the money. Birding places

Luzon Mt Makiling Close to Manilla this mountain offers good birding with many endemics. A good trail which is drivable goes up the mountain and we walked this for about 4 kilometres. After a few kilometres there is a nursey with some stalls where one can buy soft drinks and snacks. The Trees lodge is at the foot of the mountain just where the forest starts and a perfect place to stay. A few hundred metres back the road is the Botanical garden which is also worth a visit. A further few kilometres back the road is the Univer- sity complex and near to this is a place where Spotted buttonquails walk out on a dirttrack in the afternoon. Nearby are som rivers which holds Indigo-banded kingfisher. An essential place to visit for two days. Quezon NP A few hours south of Manilla is this formerly very good place but now not worth visiting. We spend one morgning here but didn«t see anything which we didn«t see elsewhere. There is a main road going through the park and most of the birding is done along this road which is most unpleasant as there is a lot of traffic. Birding is also done along a concrete trail but at the time of our visit the forest was dead quiet and very few birds were seen. Pagbilao marsh Close to Quezon and worth a visit only if one goes to Quezon. A good selection of wetland birds were seen including 12 Philippine ducks during our two hours here. We didn«t see anything, apart from Peregrine falcon, which we didn«t see at other wetlands. Mt Polis Nice forested mountains in the northern Cordillera. The city of Bannaue is a good place to stay and it takes one hour to drive up to the pass at 2300 m. The road on both sides of the pass offers good birding and a few kilometres beyond the pass is the small village Bay-Yu and in the river below is the Luzon Water-redstart, which can be tricky to find. Behind the checkpoint at the pass there is a path going through the forest and this path gives access to very nice mossforest. Unfortunately the few people who lives near the forest put a lot of snares on the narrow path and apparently catches birds. We released a Luzon jungle-flycatcher from one snare and the day before people have been eating Whiskered pitta and White«s thrush for dinner! More feathers were found by the snares. This trail forks after about 2 kilometres and along the left fork there were no snares for the next kilometer that we walked before turning back and this part could possibly offer a better chans to see the pitta and other scarse forestdwelling birds. Candaba marsh Just outside the city of Plagidel in central Luzon. An extensive area of ricefields and wetlands with a good selection of wetland birds. We saw three possible Baer«s pochards here but could not identify them with certinity as they were in the middle of a large pool. Best stuff here was a flock of 10 Grass owls. Subic A former US Navy base, the biggest in Asia, which was abandoned in 1991. Within the base complex is a lot of forest which got protection and holds a lot of birds. Best bird is the Green raquettail which has it«s stronghold in the world here. There is a maze of roads and even Tim had problems finding his way around. There is also a special birdwatching trail but at the time of our visit the forest was very quiet and a bit windy so we didn«t see very much. We spent one afternoon and one morgning here which is a minimum. Looking back on the trip we should not have gone to Quezon, as this took one and a half day including transports, and spend that time in Subic instead. Subic is situated just south of Okalongo City north of Manilla Palawan Galciano beach, Puerto Princessa A short stop here produced 4 Chinese egrets which are regulary seen here and also Stork-billed kingfisher. St Paul´s NP We had two and a half days here which was enough. We stayed at the Last Frontier which is a few hundred metres before Sabang, which is just a very small village by the sea, about two hours north of Puerto Princessa. The Last Frontier has nice bungalows and the staff cocked very good food for us. The pro- blem is that one has to walk 2 kilometres to the national Cabayugan Rangers Station park headquarter. A better alternative would have been to stay at the Central Park Station, from where the trails starts. This was not possible as they don«t allow visitors to stay there. The Last Frontier was however much more comfortable. Two Spotted We spent the first day walking from the CPS along the Wood-owls flushed partly overgrown Streamtrail up the hill and back along Main road to here, also Blue the Mangrove trail. The Streamtrail seemed to be the Sabang about paradise-fly and one with best potentials for birds. 3 kms ahead. Ashy-headed Babbler. Day two we took a boat from Sabang fifteen minutes to Signpost 150 m along a the Underground river and birded around the HQ there Hut before going up the hill and down the other side to CPS. dirttrack At the Underground river HQ some Tabon scrubfowls and a male Palawan Peacock-pheasant comes in every morgning to feed around the HQ. Rice fields Day three. We split up with Tore, Anders and Stefan going back to the park as Tore and Stefan had missed the Cockatoo and Anders was keen to look for Palawan A few houses tit. Lars, Roger and Jonas walked on the road a few kilometres back and this turned out to be very successful as we had good birding all the way and saw Cockatoos and also found a pair of Spotted wood-owls. Basicly what one needs to see in the forest is Falcated wren-babbler, Palwan blue flycatcher, Peacock, Tabon scrubfowl and possibly Palawan tit, Ashy- headed babbler and pittas. When that is done there is no reason for being inside the forest because better birding is done outside the forest along the road. Balsahan Trail Only half an hour outside Puerto Princessa near Inwahigh prisoncamp this trail offers Melodius babbler, which is not found at St Paul«s and usually Palawan flycatcher which is rare at St Paul«s (Anders saw one there) although we didn«t find any here. We saw a pair of Palawan tits and some of the birds seen at St Paul«s. A river has to be crossed several times. At the time of our visit the second and third could be crossed dryfoot but the first had to be waded. Two days before we came to Palawan they had got 148 mm rain in 24 hours so maybe it«s possible to cross the river dryfoot if it«s not unusually rainy. Cebu Tabunan One and a half hour from Cebu City is a forestpatch on a hillside which still holds a few Cebu flowerpeckers. Also here is Cebu black shama, Blue-crowned raquettail and Streak-breasted bulbul. Birding is done from to rock outcrops in the forest, one of them has a basic bamboo platform with rather limited view. It«s probably essentail to have a guide here to find the way through the fields and the forest to the platforms. Oking is local guide and he also knows the call of all the birds here. Bohol Rajah Sikatuna NP Two hours from Tagbilran is Rajah Sikatuna NP which is big. Birding is done in the outskirts of the park with a few good trails. Unfortunately the maintainance of the trails is non-existent, trees that has fallen across the trail is still there and the signs are broken and left on the ground. The same goes for St Paul«s on Palawan with overgrown trails (the Streamtrail). We stayed at the Chocolate Hills hotel about 30 minutes past Rajah Sikatuna which was good and in a rather spectacular area with the rounded hills all around. Some trails starts from the scoutcamp, Magsaysay, which is also said to be good for nightbirds. We had one afternoon, one full day and one morgning here which was just about enough, although another morgning wouldn«t have done any harm. We missed the Azure-breasted pitta (dip-of-the-trip) even though it«s supposed to be fairly common here but they are not calling at this time of the year and there is no respons to tape playback which we did a lot. Negros Casa Roro Just above Dumaguette is a place called Casa Roro which is a house from where you go, on steps, down to a river and you can see Flame-templed babbler here (which we didn«t). Other birds are Visayan flowerpecker and hornbill and Philippine needeltail but not much else. Birdhunting is going on here and bird densities are very low. This is a place one can visit if you should happen to have a day or so on transfer between other islands. Mt Talinnis A bigger mountain range above Dumaguette. We walked all the way up into the mossforest but it was pretty much a waste of energy as the only good birds we saw was Negros stripe-babbler and Yellow- throated warbler. It is possible to drive up to Mt Talinnis which is a better option as it will produse the same birds with far less effort. Mt Mantecal This is a mountain in the south of Negros which René suggested we go to as Walden«s hornbill, Negros bleeding-heart and White-throated jungle-flycatcher can be found here. René was also familiar with Negros fruitdove and he even knew the call! He said that this place was the biggest remaining forest in the whole of Negros. It certanly looked good but sadly the lower part of the forest is being cut and converted to farmland. It«s one hour jeepneydrive from Dumaguette and then another hour with motorbike and then we had to walk for about three hours before reaching the forest. This left us with only a few midday hours inside the forest and nothing good was seen. There is a path in the forest but it was heavily overgrown and locals had to cut it up for us and while they did that they flushed a bleeding-heart! This day was another disappointment with a lot of physical effort. We were told that the motorbikes should take us all the way to the forest edge but they didn«t. An alternative would be to camp by the river at the forest edge and be at the forest by first light to look for flying hornbills and doves. Mindanao PICOP PICOP is a large selectively logged forest near Bislig on the east coast of Mindanao. The area is closed and you have to have permit and Zardo as guide and a vehicle to do this place. There are a few roads from which birding is done and Zardo knows the place and also where the good birds are. Disappointingly people move into the forest and start new, illegal settlements. The forest is cleared for about 100 metres around each house and replaced by bananas and other crops, thus bringing the forest and the birds further away from the roads. The houses are popping up with a rapid pace, we saw several new houses and houses under construction, so the area will be more and more difficult to do proper birdwatching in over the next few years. We had two and a half days here out of which the half day rained away. At least one more day would have been sufficient, at least to make up for time lost to rain, as this is reputadely a very rainy place. Bislig airport A small airstrip just outside Bislig with some wetlands around it. We spend one afternoon here and saw a good selection of wetland birds including some which we didn«t see elsewhere. Mt Kitanglad Situated on north central Mindanao about two hours drive south of Cagayan de Oro. On the mountain slope there is a basic lodge build by Del Monte. The lodge has a upper floor for sleeping and a lower floor for cocking, toilettes and a long table. It takes roughly 2,5 hours to walk up to the lodge from the main road and about half the time if you can go as far as possible on the dirttrack. Luggage is being brought up by horses and we had 4-5 people serving us up on the mountain. It«s essential to contact Tim Fisher if you should go here as the roof is not waterproof and has to be covered with tarpaulins evertime visitors come here. Also food and drinks has to be brought up here. Getting around etc As we hired Tim Fisher to take care of all the logistics for us we have very little knowledge about costs, transports etc. All we know is that by having Tim to do the job for us we definately got the most out of the time we had available although doing it all by ourselves would probably have cost us a little less but we would have got a whole lot of problems and we would have missed many birds. A few things that may be useful to know 1 USD was 50 pesos at the time of our visit A litre of Rum was about 50 pesos and readily available! A beer was 20-25 pesos A Big Macª Meal (large fries and Coke) was 89 Pesos

Pocketknives, lighters and spraybottles are sticktly forbidden on the domestic flights, they will take it from you so put all that in the main luggage which is being checked in.

We used the following tripreports Brian Gee. Winter 96/97. Very good report with many good maps that are still accurate. This report is a must to have. Available from OBC. Jan van der Laan. 10.2-4.3 2000. Also a good report with a few maps. (www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/philippines/philippines3) Aidan G Kelly. 2-26.3 2000. Another good report but with no maps. Refs to other reports. (www.worldtwitch..virtualave.com) Jon Hornbuckle. 13.1-1.3 1994. A bit outdated but still useful. (www.crosswinds.net/~tripreports/philippines94.html)

Most of the reports after Brain Gee, including this one, refer to his maps. I have only done maps which BG haven«t got. Mt Makiling and the University campus

Track going up the It is about 5 kilometres from Trees Lodge to the mountain Husbandry. The road goes through the University campus and there is no real birding en route although we saw our only Lowland whiteeyes on the way. Forest starts here The kingfisher often perches on rocks in the streams and can be difficult to find. Canteen Trees Lodge At the Animal Husbandry walk 50 metres or so on the dirttrack to get away from the mainroad and scan with telescopes on the track. We saw Spotted buttonquail, Slaty-legged crake and Barred rail. One smaller species of Botanical buttonquail was also seen but could not be identified. Garden In the field next to the tracks were several Swinhoe«s snipes.

Dirttrack where Buttonquials, rails and crakes comes out in late afternoon. Stand on the track and scan with scopes.

Footballfields

Swinhoe´s To we r snipes here. Stream with Indigo-banded kingfisher 100 m Arch Small stream with heard I-B KF Animal Husbandry Mt Polis We walked this part for about 1 kilometre and the forest was great and there were no snares on the trail. Fairly level from the fork. Good potentials here!

From the last hut, which is about 500 metres from the checkpoint, it is roughly 2 Hut with Good view kilometres to the fork. The path then woodcarvers continues steep uphill for about 300 metres to a small clearing and a hut. Steep uphill Snares along here. Behind the hut is a good viewpoint. It´s a bit difficult to find the way from the Steep uphill for checkpoint but it is basically just to find about 300 m your way uphill through the fields to a Peak small hut.

Luzon jungle-flycatcher caught in a snare about 500 m from hut. Many snares along this part. Fairly level. Peak

Good mossforest starts just behind Small hut the hut.

This field was new

These trails possibly connects. Very steep. Cabbage fields

Statue

Checkpoint Dirttrack Good birding along the road on both sides of the pass.

to Bay-Yu Main road to Bannaue Mt Kitanglad upper part

The trail from the lodge goes generally through fields and secondary scrub. We pushed on one day to try and enter good mossforest at higher altitude, but all we found were some patches of forest. We walked roughly 2 kilometres beyond the upper eagle viewpoint. Often the trail goes through high grass and scrub. Patch of good forest. From what we saw it´s not worth going any further then the viewpoint from where we saw the eagle. This was the lowest point we saw Apo myna.

Patch of good forest.

Ridge with good forest

Good viewpoint. We saw Phil Eagle from here. Apo myna, Blackmasked whiteeye and McGregor´s C-shrike.

Bagobo Babbler

Old campsite

Fallen tree

Small trails going into good mossforest. Upper Eagle viewpoint

Viewpoint

More then one hour walk from lodge. List of birds seen and heard

The is sometimes confusing and not fully understood in the Philippines. For further reference to which subspecies occuring where, see A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Where taxonomy is unclear there is also a section about this in the book, which is a bit conservative regarding taxonomy.

A blue E appears after the name of all the endemics. For some species, mainly endemics, there is also two letters in red (NT, VU, EN or CR). This tells the status in threatened Birds of the World. NT means Near-Threatened, VU=Vulnerable, EN=Endangered and CR=Critical Endangered.

We saw or heard 339 species of which 137 are endemic to the Philippines. Little grebe 4 at Candaba marsh Great Frigatebird 1 & and 1 imm at St Paul«s, Palawan 17.12. According to the book this species is not known from Palawan. We were aware of this and had the birds soaring overhead and checked them thouroughly. They do occur on virtually all other islands so there is no reason why they shouldn«t occur on Palawan as well. Gray Heron, Purple heron, Great-, Intermediate-, Cattle- and Little Egrets Generally common at wetlands, ricefields etc. Grey- and Purple more uncommon than the others. Chinese Egret VU 3 at Galciano Beach, Puerto Princessa, Palawan Pacific Reef-heron 1 en route to St Paul«s, 1-2 daily at St Paul«s Javan Pond-heron 1 at Bislig airport 28.12 Based on distribution it should be Javan but we didn«t see it that well to exclude Chinese, which it did resemble. Striated Heron 3 at Pagbilao marsh, 1 on two dates at St Paul«s Black-crowned Night-heron 1 at Candaba marsh, 1 at Sabang, Palawan. Yellow Bittern Singles to fairly common at wetlands. Up to 25 at Candaba. Cinnamon Bittern Singles at wetlands. Less common than Yellow Bittern. Black Bittern 1 at Bislig airport. Wandering Whistling-duck 25 Bislig airport, 6 Bislig reservoir, 5 near Davao Philippine Duck VU E 12 at Pagbilao marsh, 6 at Candaba, 940 at Subic Bay, 3 at Bislig airport. Pintail 4 at Subic bay Garganey 150 at Candaba marsh, 6 at Subic Bay Shoveler 50 at Subic Bay Tufted Duck/Baer´s Pochard 3 in a large pond at Candaba could not be possitively identified but were probably Baer«s. Osprey 1 Makiling, 2 Subic, 1 Puerto Princessa Barred Honey-buzzard 3 at PICOP Oriental Honey-buzzard 2 at Makiling, 5 at Quezon, 2 at St Paul«s, 1 at PICOP Black-shouldred Kite 1 Mt M , Negros Brahminy Kite Up to 5 daily at Subic, Singles on Negros and Bohol. White-bellied Sea-eagle 1 at Pagbilao, 2 at Subic Bay, 1 en route to Sabang, 2 at St Paul«s and Puerto Princessa. Creasted Serpent-eagle 2-3 at St Paul«s Philippine Serpent-eagle Singles in all forested places. Eastern Marsh Harrier 20 at Candaba, 1 between Puerto Princessa and Balsahan trail. Creasted Goshawk 2 at St Paul«s, 1 at Mt M, 2 at PICOP. Chinese Goshawk 1 at Subic Japanese Sparrowhawk 1 at Makiling, 1 at St Paul«s Besra 1 at Casa Roro, Negros Single unidentified Sparrowhawks seen briefly in many places. Grey-faced Buzzard 3 at Mt Polis Philippine Eagle CR E 1 at Mt Kitanglad on one date. Rufous-bellied Eagle 1 imm at Subic and 2 at St Paul«s. Philippine Hawk-eagle VU E 1 at Mt Makiling and 2 at Mt Kitanglad. Philippine Falconet E 7 around Trees Lodge, Makiling, 2 at Subic, 9 seen in total at PICOP and 4 en route to Kitanglad. Oriental Hobby 1 at St Paul«s Peregrine falcon 1 at Pagbilao marsh. Tabon Scrubfowl 5 at the Underground River HQ, St Paul«s Blue-breasted Quail 1 at St Paul«s, 1 at Mt Mantecal and 2 at Bislig airport. Red Junglefowl 5 at Subic Palawan Peacock-pheasant E 2 heard along the Streamtrail and 1 male seen at the Underground River HQ, St Paul«s. Spotted Buttonquail E 1 female seen at Makiling (see map) and 1 flushed at Subic. Barred Buttonquail 1 at St Paul«s. 2 smaller buttonquails seen at Makiling was either Barred or Small buttonquail. Slaty-legged Crake 1 seen at Makiling with the Buttonquails. Buff-banded Rail 4 at Candaba marsh Barred Rail 2 seen at makiling, 5 at Candaba, heard twice on Negros, singles heard at PICOP. Plain Bush-hen E 1 seen and 3 heard on road 1, PICOP and 2 heard at Mt Kitanglad. White-breasted Waterhen Singles seen near water, more common at Candaba. White-browed Crake Singles seen near water. Watercock 1 female seen at Bislig airport. Common Moorhen Singles near water, common at Candaba. Pheasant-tailed Jacana 3 at Candaba marsh. Black-winged Stilt 15 at Pagbilao marsh, 50 at Candaba marsh and 12 near Balsahan, Palawan. Pacific Golden Plover 3 at Candaba, 15 Puerto Princessa, 10 at saltpans north of Puerto Princessa and 20 near Balsahan. Grey Plover 2 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa. Little Ringed Plover 200 at Candaba, 3 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa and 4 at Bislig airport. Kentish Plover 4 at Candaba and 10 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa. Malaysian Plover Up to 5 along the beach at St Paul«s. Greater Sandplover 50 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa. Lesser Sandplover 100 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa. Bukidnon Woodcock E 2 every morgning and evening around the lodge on Mt Kitanglad. The birds started to rod at 17.45 and continued after dark. Pintail Snipe 15 at Candaba marsh Swinhoe´s Snipe 10 at Makiling and 2 at Bislig airport. Common Snipe 50 at Candaba marsh. Many snipes at Candaba was unidentified but the majority were Common. Whimbrel 2 at Puerto Princessa. Curlew 1 at Pagbilao marsh. Common Redshank 8 around Puerto Princessa. Marsh Sandpiper 50 at Candaba and singles around Puerto Princessa. Greenshank 5 at Candaba, 1 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa and 14 near Balsahan. Wood Sandpiper 200 at Candaba marsh. Terek Sandpiper 1 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa and 1 near Balsahan. Common Sandpiper Fairly common near water. Grey-tailed Tattler 2 en route to Sabang. Red-necked Stint 30 at slatpans north of Puerto Princessa. Long-toed Stint 50 at Candaba marsh. Black-headed Gull 1 at Candaba, Singles from the ferrys, specially near the ports. Creasted Tern 7 from the ferry between Bohol and Cebu. Roseate Tern 1 from the ferry between Cebu and Negros. Common Tern 2 from the ferry between Cebu and Negros. Whiskered Tern 1000+ at Candaba, 100 at Subic, 50 from the ferry between Cebu and Negros and 300 near Cebu harbour. Black Noddy 30 from the ferry between Bohol and Cebu. Island Collared Dove 2 at Candaba marsh, 2 at Bislig airport Spotted Dove Fairly common in open country. Philippine Cuckoo-dove E 5 at higher altitude on Mt Kitanglad. Emerald Dove 2 at Subic and 2 at St Paul«s. Zebra Dove Common in open country. Luzon Bleeding Heart NT E 1 heard at the pass one morgning at Mt Polis. White-eared Brown-dove E Fairly common in forests throughout. Amethyst Brown-dove E 1 at PICOP Pompadour Green-pigeon 20 at PICOP Yellow-breasted Fruitdove E 3 seen and a few heard at PICOP, 1 seen on Mt Kitanglad. Black-chinned Fruit-dove E 1 seen and 2 heard Mt Makiling, 1 seen at PICOP. Pink-bellied Imperial-pigeon NT E 1 heard Rajah Sikatuna, 3 seen and 2 heard at PICOP. Spotted Imperial-pigeon VU E 2 seen at PICOP just before the junction between road 1 and 1/4. Green Imperial-pigeon Fairly common at Subic, St Paul«s and PICOP. Feral Pigeon Common Philippine Cockatoo CR E 1 at 7.00 at CPS, St Paul«s, 2 along the road back from Sabang. Guaiabero E Singles at Makiling, Quezon, Subic and PICOP. Luzon Raquettail NT E Several sightings of 12 altogether at Mt Polis. Mindanao Raquettail NT E 2 at the Upper eagle viewpoint and 15+ next day higher up Mt Kitanglad. Blue-headed Raquettail VU E Singles daily at St Paul«s. Green Raquettail VU E 15 in total at Subic. Blue-crowned Raquettail E 7 at Tabunan, Cebu. Blue-naped Parrot NT 2 at Subic, seen daily at St Paul«s with 8 in total. Colasisi E Fairly common in forests. Large Hawk-cuckoo 1 seen at CPS St Paul«s Plaintive Cuckoo Singles seen and more often heard at St Paul«s and Balsahan trail. 1 seen Mt Talinnis, Negros and 1 heard Bislig airport. Rusty-breasted Cuckoo Singles heard on Negros and Bohol and Mt Kitanglad. Violet Cuckoo 2 seen at Subic Asian Drongo-cuckoo Singles heard daily on Palawan Philippine Drongo-cuckoo E Singles seen and more often heard on Luzon, Bohol and PICOP. Chestnut-breasted Malkoha Singles daily on Palawan. Red-creasted Malkoha E 5 daily on Mt Makiling and 5 at Quezon, 2 at Subic. Scale-feathered Malkoha E 12 on Mt Makiling, 5 at Quezon, 7 Mt Polis. Black-faced Coucal E Several seen and more heard at Rajah Sikatuna, singles at PICOP. Greater Coucal 2 heard at St Paul«s. Philippine Coucal E Fairly common Lesser Coucal 1 at Candaba and 2 near Puerto Princessa. Grass Owl 10 at Candaba and 2 at Bislig airport. Philippine Scops-owl E 1 heard Mt Makiling, 3 heard at Rajah Sikatuna. 3 owls heard at Mt Polis matched the tapes we had with Philippine scops but was well above the altitude stated in the book. We heard the owls near the pass (2200 m). In the book it says that it ”does occur in pine forest on Luzon up to 2000 m.” The pineforest was well below the places we heard them. Unfortunately the owls didn«t call very much so we couldn«t do any recordings. The most likely owl up here should be Luzon Scops. Mindanao Scops-owl NT E 1 called one night at Mt Kitanglad Giant Scops owl VU E 1 called two nights at Mt Kitanglad Spotted Wood-owl 1 called briefly near the Last Frontier, Sabang and 2 seen in daylight at Cabayugan Ranger Station a few kilometres back the road from Sabang. Brown Hawk-owl 1 called two nights at the Chocolate Hills hotel, Bohol. We saw it the second night. It stopped calling at 4.00. Apparently this species is not known from Bohol and it is highly likely that it was of the local race rhandi, from which the call is unknown, until now. We made a good recording of the sound. Philippine Hawk-owl E 2 heard and seen on Mt Makilings lower slopes, 2 heard at Quezon, 2 heard at Subic, 2 heard and one seen at Rajah Sikatuna. Philippine Frogmouth E 1 heard at Quezon, 2 heard one night at Mt Kitanglad. Javan Frogmouth 2 heard at St Paul«s Great Eared Nightjahr 3 at St Paul«s, 2 at Rajah Sikatuna, 1 heard PICOP and 2 every evening at Mt Kitanglad. Large-tailed Nightjahr 1 heard near the Last Frontier, Sabang Philippine Nightjahr E 1 flushed at Subic and 1 heard one night on mt Kitanglad.

The nightbirds didn«t call every night on Mt Kitanglad so one have to listen every evening around the lodge to get all the species. The trails are to bad to walk at nighttime so one is restricted to the clearing around the lodge. Glossy Swiftlet Common on Mindanao and Palawan Grey-rumped Swiftlet E Common on Negros, Luzon, Cebu and Bohol Pygmy Swiftlet E Common to fairly comon throughout. Philippine Swiftlet E Common on high altitude at Mt Polis and Mt Kitanglad Palawan Swiftlet E Common on Palawan Uniform Swiftlet Common German´s Swiftlet Common on Palawan

Note: The swiftlets is a very difficult subject with a somewhat unclear taxonomy and some species very similar. Our identifications are based very much on distribution and we didn«t put in too much effort to try and sort things out properly. Specially the latter four are very simillar and distribution is pretty much the only way. Rather boring! Philippine Needletail NT E 3 at Casa Roro and 2 at Mt Mantecal, singles at PICOP. Brown-backed Needletail 5 Galciano beach, Puerto Princessa and 10 at St Paul«s. Purple Needletail 2 at Mt Polis, 15 at Subic, 5 at Casa Roro, 2 at PICOP House Swift 3 en route to Pagbilao Whiskered Tree-swift 3 at Mt Polis, 5 at Subic and 15 at PICOP Philippine Trogon E 2 at Mt Makiling, 1 female at Rajah Sikatuna and 1 female at PICOP Common Kingfisher 10 at pagbilao marsh, 20 at Candaba marsh, 3 St Paul«s and 2 at saltpans north of Puerto Princessa. Indigo-banded Kingfisher E 1 from a bridge at the University Campus, Makiling. Whiskered treeswift at Mt Polis 1 probably heard from another stream near the Animal Husbandry in the same general area. Silvery Kingfisher VU E 1 seen in a small stream about halfway along road 1/4, PICOP and 1 seen in the third pool along road 1, this one allowed scope-views. Rufous-backed Kingfisher 2 along the Streamtrail, St Paul«s. Stork-billed Kingfisher 1 at Galciano beach and 2 at St Paul«s. Ruddy Kingfisher 1 along the Mangrove trail, St Paul«s White-throated Kingfisher Singles Rufous-lored Kingfisher VU E 1 heard at dawn at the junction betwen road 1 and 1/4, PICOP Collared Kingfisher Singles. Common at Pagbilao marsh. Spotted Kingfisher E 5 at Mt Makiling, mainly heard at dawn but one gave good view. 2 heard at Subic. Blue-throated Beeater 15 at Subic Blue-tailed Beeater 30 at Subic and singles on Bohol, Negros and Mindanao. Dollarbird 2 at Subic Palawan Hornbill VU E About 15 seen on Palawan. Rufous Hornbill E 5 at Subic and 4 at road 6, PICOP. Luzon Hornbill E 2 at Mt Makiling, 4 at Quezon and 4 at Subic. Visayan Hornbill EN E 2 at Casa Roro Mindanao Hornbill E 6 at Rajah Sikatuna, 15 at PICOP and 4 at Mt Kitanglad. Writhed Hornbill E 5+2 at PICOP Coppersmith´s Barbet Fairly common throughout. Philippine Woodpecker E 6 on Mt Makiling, 4 at Mt Polis, 1 at Subic, 1 on Mt Talinnis and 1 at PICOP White-bellied Woodpecker 13 seen in total in most forested places. Common Flameback 6 on Palawan Greater Flameback Singles in forested places. 11 seen in total of 4 different races. Mindanao Broadbill VU E 1 on road 1/4 at PICOP allowing scope-view! Visayan Broadbill VU E 2 seen with Brown Tit-Babblers at Rajah Sikatuna. Hooded Pitta 1 heard at PICOP Red-bellied Pitta 1 heard and 1 seen at PICOP Whiskered Pitta VU E Red feathers of a recently eaten one at Mt Polis! Oriental Skylark 2 at Candaba marsh Barn Swallow Common Pacific Swallow 5 at Subic, 10 Puerto Princessa and 5 at Tagbilaran Striated Swallow 1 at Makiling, 10 at Bannaue, Mt Polis and 5 southern Negros. Black-backed Wagtail 3 at saltpans north of Puerto Princessa. Race ocularis. Yellow Wagtail 1 at makiling, 10 at Candaba, 5 en route to Sabang, 150 at Sabang, 20 near Balsahan trail, 20 at Bislig and 30 at Mt Kitanglad. All seen well was simillima. Grey Wagtail Singles to fairly common throughout. Paddyfield Pipit 1 at Candaba, 2 at Puerto Princessa airport, 2 near Balsahan trail, 1 atBislig airport. Olive-backed Pipit Up to 20 at Mt Polis. Pechora Pipit 1 seen by Lars at Mt Makiling and 1 seen by Anders on Mt Kitanglad. Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Singles or small groups at Mt Makiling, Quezon, Subic, Palawan, Rajah Sikatuna and PICOP. Blackish Cuckoo-shrike E 1 at Quezon, 1 heard at Subic and 2 seen next day. All seen together with Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes. Black-bibbed Cuckoo-shrike NT E 1 at Rajah Sikatuna. Together with Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes and orioles. McGregor´s Cuckoo-shrike NT E 4 near the lodge at Mt Kitanglad and 5 high up on Kitanglad. All birds seen in mixed species flocks. White-winged Cuckoo-shrike VU E 3 seen and 2 heard at Mt Mantecal, Negros. Black-and-white Triller E 4+2 at Mt Makiling and 3 at Quezon Pied Triller Singles to fairly common on Palawan, Cebu, Negros and lowlands of Mindanao. Ashy Minivet 2 at the Animal Husbandry, Makiling and 20 at Subic Fiery Minivet NT 9 along the road back from Sabang. Scarlet Minivet 16 seen along road 1/4, PICOP Black-headed Bulbul 20 in total on Palawan. Yellow-wattled Bulbul E Fairly common Mt Makiling, 3 at Rajah Sikatuna, 9 at PICOP. Yellow-vented Bulbul Fairly common in open country. Olive-winged Bulbul Up to 5 daily on Palawan. Grey-cheeked Bulbul Fairly common on Palawan. Sulphur-bellied Bulbul E 5 on one date St Paul«s Philippine Bulbul E Common Streak-breasted Bulbul EN E 2 at Tabunan, Cebu. Yellowish Bulbul E A total of 35 at PICOP. Philippine Leafbird NT E 12 at PICOP Yellow-throated Leafbird E Fairly common on Palawan. Common Iora 2 at St Paul«s Blue Rock-thrush 1 at Makiling, 3 at Mt Polis, 1 at Subic and 1 between Davao and Dalwangen. Island Thrush 10 at Mt Polis Eye-browed Thrush 1 at Trees Lodge, Mt Makiling, Up to 50 at Mt Kitanglad. Brown-headed Thrush About 20 around the pass at Mt Polis. The birds we saw well, about 5, were brown-headed, the rest were presumed to this species as well. White-browed Shortwing About 10 at Mt Polis, 2-3 heard on Negros, up to 5 heard on Mt Kitanglad. Zitting Cisticola 100 at Candaba, 1 at Puerto Princessa and 1 near St Paul«s. Golden-headed Cisticola 25 at Bislig airport. Luzon Bush-warbler E Common on Mt Polis with up to 25 daily. Long-tailed Bush-warbler E 3 heard at Mt Polis and 9 heard on Mt Kitanglad. Lanceolated Warbler 1 possible was flushed at St Paul«s. Middendorff´s Grasshopper-warbler 1 at Pagbilao marsh, 1 at Candaba and 3 at Bislig with up to 15 more possibles there. Gray´s Warbler 1 seen briefly by Anders at Bislig. Oriental Reed-warbler 25 at Pagbilao marsh, 50 at Candaba marsh and 25 at Bislig airport. A few could have been Clamourus, we didn«t check all of them thoroughly. Mountain About 10 on Mt Polis Rufous-headed Tailorbird E About 15 on Mt Kitanglad, mainly heard. Philippine Tailorbird E 2 heard at Subic, 8 on Negros Rufous-fronted Tailorbird E 8 at Rajah Sikatuna and 3 at PICOP. Gray-backed Tailorbird E 2 seen and 2 heard on Mt Makiling and 1 heard at Quezon. Rufous-tailed Tailorbird 6 seen on Palawan. Yellow-breasted Tailorbird NT E 2 heard at Rajah Sikatuna. Black-headed Tailorbird E 2 seen and 5 heard at PICOP. Arctic Warbler Singles in most wooded places. Lemon-throated Warbler E 5 seen on Mt Talinnis Mountain Leaf-warbler Common on Mt Polis, 10 on Mt Talinnis Philippine Leaf-warbler E 1 at Mt M, 2 at Rajah Sikatuna and 1 at PICOP. Tawny Grassbird 5 on Mt Talinnis and 10 on Mt Mantecal, Negros, 5 on Mt Kitanglad. Striated Grassbird Common in wetlands, singles on Mt Kitanglad. Rufous-tailed Jungle-flycatcher VU 1 on road 1/4 at PICOP in a mixed flock. Luzon Jungle-flycatcher VU E 1 released from a snare on Mt Polis by Roger and Anders. see map on page 13. Grey-streaked Flycatcher Singles throughout.

Mugimaki Flycatcher Mountain Leaf-warbler at Mt Polis. 2 high up on Mt Kitanglad on one date. Snowy-browed Flycatcher 2 at Mt Polis Palawan Flycatcher VU E 1 along the Streamtrail, St Paul«s seen by Anders. We failed to find it at Balsahan trail which should be a good place.

Little Pied Flycatcher 6 on Mt Polis, 5 on Mt Talinnis and 6 on Mt Kitanglad. Blue-and-white Flycatcher 1 seen on Mt Mantecal by Tore, Jonas and Stefan. 6

LUZON 1

3 2

4 5

P A C I F I C O C E A N

CATANDUANES

MARINDUQUE MINDORO

The distribution of White-browed Jungle-flycatcher Rhinomyias insignis: (1) Mt Puguis; (2) Mt Polis; (3) Mt Data; (4) Pauai; (5) Mt Pulog National Park; (6) Los Dos Cuernos. Luzon Jungle-flycatcher just released from a snare. The bird was in Historical (pre-1950) Fairly recent (1950–1979) Recent (1980–present) Map by Birdlife International Red Data Book Asia. active tailmoult with the innermost tailfeathers growing, the next (www.rdb.or.id) dropped and the four outermost unmoulted. No flightfeathers were moulted. Island Verditer Flycatcher 1 on Mt Polis, 2 on Mt Mantecal and 8 on Mt Kitanglad. Palwan Blue Flycatcher NT E 10 in St Paul«s and 1 on Balsahan trail. Mangrove Blue Flycatcher 2 heard at Tabunan, Cebu. Tabunan is rather high up and this is supposed to be a lowland species. On Sulawesi the Mangrove blue flycatcher at Lore Lindu has been split to Sulawesi blue flycatcher. Lore Lindu is at similar altitude as Tabunan… Citrine Canary Flycatcher 2 on Mt Talinnis and 2 at Mt Mantecal, Negros Siberian Rubythroat 2 at Candaba marsh. Oriental Magpie-robin 3 at Casa Roro and 3 at Mt Mantecal, 3 at Chocolate Hills hotel, Bohol. White-browed Shama E 1 seen and 3 heard on Mt Makiling, 1 seen at Quezon, 1 heard at Subic. White-vented Shama E 6 seen and heard on Palawan. Cebu Black Shama en E 5 seen and heard at Tabunan. Luzon Water-redstart vu E 1 male seen after a long search in the river below Bay-Yu, Mt Polis. Pied Bushchat Singles on Mt Polis, Candaba and Subic. About 10 seen between Davao and Dalwangen. Blue Fantail E 15 at Rajah Sikatuna and 13 at PICOP. Blue-headed Fantail E Fairly common on Luzon. 5 of the white-bellied race albiventris on Negros. Black-and-Cinnamon Fantail E About 30 on Mt Kitanglad in mixed flocks from the lodge to high up. Pied Fantail 2 at Candaba, 1 on Mt Talinnis and 1 between Davao and Dalwangen. Black-naped Monarch Singles on Mt Makiling, Negros, Palawan, Bohol and Mindanao. Celestial Monarch vu E 1 male along road 4, PICOP in a mixed flock. Blue Paradise Flycatcher nt E 1 en route to Sabang, 3 along the road back from Sabang and 1 on Balsahan trail. Rufous Paradise Flycatcher E 1 on Mt Makiling, 2 at Quezon and 8 at PICOP. Mangrove Whistler 1 above the Streamtrail, St Paul«s. Green-backed Whistler E Seen daily on Mt Polis with about 15 in total. White-vented Whistler E 2 heard on Mt Talinnis and 10 seen and heard on Mt Mantecal, Negros. Yellow-bellied Whistler E 10 on Mt Makiling, 2 at Quezon, 10 at Rajah Sikatuna, 8 at PICOP and 4 on Mt Kitanglad. Bagobo Babbler E 1 heard high up on Mt Kitanglad. Ashy-headed Babbler E 1 seen along the Streamtrail, 1 seen at Cabayugan Rangers station and 1 on Balsahan trail. Melodious Babbler nt E 5 heard on Balsahan trail. The birds only called in the early morgning, after 7.30 they were silent. Striated Wren-babbler E 3 heard, one seen briefly, at Rajah Sikatuna, 3 heard at PICOP. Falcated Wren-babbler vu E 2 along the Streamtrail, St Paul«s. Rabor´s Wren-babbler nt E 2 heard at Quezon Pygmy Babbler nt E 2 in a mixed flock at PICOP Black-crowned Babbler E 1 on Mt Makiling, 10 at Rajah Sikatuna. Rusty-crowned Babbler nt E 2 in a mixed flock at PICOP Chestnut-faced Babbler E Common on Mt Polis. Probably most abundant bird there. Negros Striped-babbler en E 10 on Mt Talinnis Striped Tit-babbler Common on Palawan Brown Tit-babbler E Fairly common on Bohol and Mindanao. Elegant Tit E 7 on Mt Makiling, 2 at Quezon, >15 on Mt Polis, 10 Mt Mantecal, 20 on Mt Kitanglad. Palawan Tit nt E 2 on Balsahan trail Elegant Sulphur-billed Nuthatch E 5 on Mt Makiling, 1 on Mt Polis, 1 on Mt Talinnis, 4 on Mt Kitanglad. Stripe-headed Rhabdornis E Common on Mt Makiling, 5 at Quezon, 10 at Subic and 5 at PICOP. Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis E 8 on Mt Kitanglad Plain-throated Sunbird 1 on Mt Makiling, 2 en route to Sabang. Copper-throated Sunbird 5 near mangrove on Palawan Purple-throated Sunbird 10 at St Paul«s, 2 on Balsahan trail, 3 between Tagbilaran and Rajah Sikatuna, 1 at PICOP. Olive-backed Sunbird Singles in most places. Grey-hooded Sunbird nt E 7 on Mt Kitanglad Flaming Sunbird E 1 male at the Botanical garden, Makiling. Metallic-winged Sunbird E Common on Mt Polis, 6 at PICOP Lovely Sunbird E 1 on Mt Makiling, 25 on Palawan, 1 at PICOP. Crimson Sunbird 5 in total on Negros, seen on all three sites there. Little Spiderhunter 10 on Palawan, 1 at Rajah Sikatuna and 15 at PICOP.

Lovely Sunbird on Palawan. Different races with the birds Naked-faced Spiderhunter E on Palawan being the biggest and has longest tail. 5 at PICOP Olive-backed Flowerpecker E 14 at PICOP Palawan Flowerpecker E Fairly common on Palawan, almost 40 seen. Striped Flowerpecker E 10 on Mt Makiling and 1 at Subic Olive-capped Flowerpecker E 2 on Mt Kitanglad Flame-crowned Flowerpecker nt E 8 on Mt Polis Bicoloured Flowerpecker E 7 on Mt Makiling, 1 on Mt Mantecal Cebu Flowerpecker CR E 1 heard by Lars and Stefan at Tabunan, Cebu. Red-keeled Flowerpecker E 3 on Mt Makiling, 4 at Quezon, 3 en route to Rajah Sikatuna, common at Tabunan, Cebu. Visayan Flowerpecker vu E 3 at Casa Roro and 3 on Mt Mantecal Orange-bellied Flowerpecker 2 on Mt Makiling, 3 on Negros and common at PICOP Buzzing Flowerpecker E 5 on Mt Makiling, 6 at PICOP Pygmy Flowerpecker E 2 on Mt Makiling, 3 at St Paul«s, 2 on Mt Mantecal, 3 at PICOP. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker 2 on Mt Polis, 5 on Mt Kitanglad. Lowland White-eye E 50 in gardens below Mt Makiling. Everett´s White-eye 10 at Rajah Sikatuna, 20 at PICOP and 5 en route to Mt Kitanglad. Yellowish White-eye E 2 at Casa Roro, 5 on Mt Mantecal Mountain White-eye Common on Mt Polis and Mt Kitanglad, fairly common on Negros. Black-masked White-eye E 7 high up on Mt Kitanglad. Cinnamon Ibon E About 10 daily on Mt Kitanglad. Dark-throated Oriole nt 7 at St Paul«s White-lored Oriole E 2 at Subic Philippine Oriole E 4 seen and more heard at Rajah Sikatuna, 3 at PICOP. Black-naped Oriole 20 at Subic, 1 at Rajah Sikatuna, 8 at PICOP. Asian Fairy-bluebird 7 at St Paul«s and 1 on Balsahan trail. Philippine Fairy-bluebird E 2 at Subic, 10 at Rajah Sikatuna and 5 at PICOP. Brown Shrike Common Long-tailed Shrike Singles in open country, more common on Mindanao. Mountain Shrike nt E 8 on Mt Polis Ashy Drongo 5 on Palawan Balicassiao E Common on Mt Makiling and Quezon, 5 at Subic and 5 on Mt Mantecal. The once on Negros was of the white-bellied race. Spangled Drongo Common on Palawan, Bohol and PICOP. White-breasted Wood-swallow Common in open country. Slender-billed Crow Fairly common on Palawan Large-billed Crow Fairly common. Asian Glossy Starling Common on Palawan, Bohol and Mindanao. Short-tailed Starling Common on Mt Kitanglad, more then 10 seen. Apo Myna nt E 6 high up on Mt Kitanglad. Coleto E 7 on Mt Makiling, 3 at Quezon, 4 at Subic, 10 on Mt Mantecal, 3 at PICOP. Creasted Myna 100 at Pagbilao marsh, 10 at Subic. Scaly-breasted Munia 3 at Candaba White-bellied Munia 5 at the Botanical garden, Makiling, 1 at Pagbilao marsh, fairly common arond Sabang and Bislig. Chestnut Munia 1000+ at Candaba, 7 at Balsahan trail, common around Bislig. Java Sparrow 2 at Candaba marsh. White-cheeked Bullfinch E 7 at the upper eagle view point and 2 higher up on Mt Kitanglad. Tree Sparrow Common

Once again! Examples of habitat destruction in the Philippines

Deforested hills on Negros. The ramaining forest here is still being cut and converted to farmland.

Recently cleared moss-forest at Mt Polis above the pass. Just behind this clearing starts the trail into excellent forest.